Financial Goal #1. Build a starter emergency fund of $1,000.

Check.

This is a good starting point of your financial journey. $1,000 may seem a lot, but start off small. Even achieving a small goal of $100 within [insert your time frame here] is a great accomplishment. I always say it’s the sum of your baby steps that lead you to amazing results!

Financial Goal #2. Organize your important financial information in a binder or eFile.

Check.

I personally compile all of my financial information in a spreadsheet that calculates my net worth. I update this every month to see where I’m at with my finances. I know I can use apps such as Mint, but I personally don’t like using them. So, now I just do this myself on a personalized spreadsheet.

Aside from that, I also have a filing cabinet that stores all of my financial documents related to the car, primary residence, and investment property. I’m sure there are far more efficient ways to do this, but it just feels safer that way. Lol, yes call me old skool!

Other information such as my spending are all recorded on my online credit card statements. I solely rely on these statements (to track my spending) because I’m not a cash type of gal.

But if you’re the type who itches to spend with credit cards, I don’t recommend doing what I do. This will only hinder your financial goals.

Financial Goal #3. Develop a monthly budget habit.

Check.

I don’t formally keep track of a budget anymore, but mentally, I am very cautious with my spending habits. As mentioned above, I track my spending online by reviewing all of my credit card transactions. Seriously, I’m not kiddin’ when I say I don’t carry cash! So if you need to rob someone, it ain’t gonna be me!

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Though I don’t keep an entirely strict budget, I do allow myself some room to overspend on some months that make up my underspending in other months. If I continue seeing surpluses, then great, I’ll buy some stocks for fun!

For those who struggle to save, I recommend you to track your spending on a piece of paper or a spreasheet. Eventually when you get the hang of things, you may feel that there’s no need to track every nickel and dime. But if it becomes a habit and you love tracking everything, then by all means, go ahead. If that’s you, great job!! 👏

Financial Goal #4. Pay off all your debts.

Big fat fail!

Haha, pay off my debts? Not even close!

For goodness sake, I’m still carrying student loans. I know, you must think I’m lame.

Given the lower rates in the past, and the deductible interest expense, I chose not to pay off my student loans.

Instead, I took the risk to invest in stocks and equity index funds. Luckily, this worked out really well thanks to the bull markets after the 2008-2009 crisis. I know we can’t predict the future, but during 2011 when I was 24, I thought: “Hey, I’m still young. With a longgggg time horizon, I can afford some risks especially when rates are cheap!”

I viewed this type of debt as a wealth-building tool. It was an opportunity and I wasn’t scared one bit!

People tell me that I’ve got some balls, but Idk about that one…

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Despite cheap money or not, I know that the majority of you are afraid of debt, to the point where you can’t sleep at night. So, I can totally understand why you chose to pay them off quickly. Guaranteed 4% to 5% return, right? At the end, it really depends on your tolerance for risks.

Though I have to be honest with you now.

I thought about this a few months ago: I can continue to pay interest, or kill it.

With the recent rate hikes in Canada, I may as well just kill it, right?

Speaking of underused subscriptions, review your past statements to see what’s being charged. You can also use Trim, an app system that aims to help you save money.

Next, cut the things that you don’t love and can live without.

I’m not suggesting you to cut your daily coffee and lattes. If it keeps you happy throughout the day, then it’s worth spending (even if it’s Starbucks)!

Instead, stop buying other things just because they were on clearance. If you don’t plan on using them anytime soon, then the chances are you never will!

Overall, spending and slashing expenses is about prioritizing what’s most important to you. Follow this and you won’t feel the pinch!

Financial Goal #7. Be aware of your credit score.

Check.

This is one of the most overlooked and underrated point. Believe it or not, having an excellent credit score can help you and your family build wealth. This is no surprise because the higher your score, the less interest you pay. This can amount to thousands of dollars over the years.

To get a good understanding of how important your credit score is to your financial health, read this article, How a Good Credit Score Can Save You $83,770. In this article, he explains and calculates the total costs of what you pay when you have a good vs. bad credit score.

As a start, you can check your credit score for FREE at Credit Sesame and it won’t impact your credit score at all! It’s crucial to know where you stand so that you can improve your score and save thousands of dollars!

My overall hope is to help and motivate you to build a stronger credit score.

Financial Goal #8. Earn extra income.

Check.

Despite my sad 9-5 sh!t hole, I still make time to earn extra money by doing what I enjoy. That is refurbishing and designing furniture that people give away.

Guess what?

There’s only so much you can save. But your earning power is unlimited.

Financial Goal #9. Read the top personal finance books.

Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash

Check.Well, sorta. Only because I believe that learning is continuous and there’s always going to be more books that I want to read.

(This post contains affiliate links to only products and/or services that I love and believe in. Finsavvypanda.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees, at no extra costs to you, by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.)

For those who just started, these are my favorite books that helped me get into financial shape:

Financial Goal #10. Automate your savings.

I should probably think of automating a sub account called my emergency fund. Now that’s a bright idea, isn’t it?

Financial Goal #11. Automate your bills.

Check.

I used to automate some, but since reading I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi, I automated everything (or at least whatever I can).

I can honestly say this has made my life soooo much easier because I don’t have to worry about which bill is due, or which bill is coming up. Not to mention, it saves a lot of time!

But of course, I still scroll through my statements each month to make sure everything is correct.

Though, I have to say that the setup process at the beginning can get frustrating and annoying.

For example, when I logged into each of my accounts, I was clicking through links to see where I can automate my payments. To my surprise, some required calling customer service to have this done!

Despite the initial hassle, it’s worth investing the time to get your bills automated.

Financial Goal #12. Automate investing.

Check.

I enrolled in a monthly automatic investing plan with my TFSA and RRSP accounts. I set aside a proportion of my paycheck to invest in a few index funds.

Set it and forget it, right?

On top of that, I would occasionally save up a lump sum to purchase single stocks that I believe in. Although I’m manually investing in this area, I treat it as my “play” money. This is what I enjoy doing for fun – just like how some enjoy buying $500 shoes for fun. We all value things differently, so nothin’ wrong wit dat, right?

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Anyway, similar to automating your savings and bills, automating your investments make your life easier.

Instead of manually paying your bills, and depositing money into your savings or investment accounts, you can focus more of your time on income-producing activities. That is educating yourself by reading (you gain knowledge), or taking on a side hustle – seriously.

Financial Goal #13. Write a 5 year financial plan.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Lol! Does saving and planning for retirement today count? No?

Oh, okay… then I failed here.

I mean, I have a general picture of what I want in the next three to five years, but I haven’t planned any of this in detail.

My closest and and most successful plan is having at least a year’s worth of emergency fund. I always thought: “Well, I’ll have a year to figure out how I can get by financially. If all else fails, what’s the worst that can happen, right?”

Before purchasing the house three years ago, I was committed to maxing out both my RRSP and TFSA. But after taking out the money and using it towards the down payment, I basically had to start from scratch again.

With that said, I will max my RRSP account (as of now a year’s worth of room) by the end of this year. Idk, is that considered a check?

Financial Goal #1. Build a starter emergency fund of $1,000. – Check. I don’t believe in an emergency fund. Instead, I believe in access to funds as I borrow to invest. Hence, I keep a little money in my chequing or savings account. It’s still a checked because I can always access this amount of money without going into debt.

Financial Goal #2. Organize your important financial information in a binder or eFile. – half a check. I got some stuff organized, but not everything

Financial Goal #3. Develop a monthly budget habit. – Failed terribly. I’ve never followed a budget. However, I am a diligent saver and had not carried any high-interest debt in more than 12 years. So I am okay not having a budget.

Financial Goal #4. Pay off all your debts. – Fail. I borrow to invest, so I will probably never be debt free. The good news is, my debt is actually helping me make money rather than costing me money.

Financial Goal #5. Build a mid-level emergency fund of $10,000. – Check. I will survive (financially) if I had an emergency of this size. It’ll be painful, but I won’t be in any debt.

Financial Goal #7. Be aware of your credit score. – check. My credit score is in the high 700 so I am good.

Financial Goal #8. Earn extra income. – check. double checked. And triple checked. I can proudly say that I have about 7 sources of income and are always looking to add more sources.

Financial Goal #9. Read the top personal finance books. – half a check. I have read a couple of books, but not a lot recently. I am mainly reading blogs now. I like reading blogs more.

Financial Goal #10. Automate your savings. – check. I started years ago and saved at least 10% of my income annually. Never needed the income as I never had access to it.

Financial Goal #11. Automate your bills. – fail. Which is a good thing because it cost me to automate my bills. On the other hand, I have some bills that I paid through the Canadian Tire MasterCard, I get a 0.8% of the value of the bill. Not a lot of money, but it’s free money. I am glad to take it whenever it’s available.

Financial Goal #13. Write a 5 year financial plan. – check. double checked. And triple checked once again because I am trying to achieve financial independence in 5 (aggressive) to 10 (conservative) years

Financial Goal #14. Start maxing out your retirement account every year. Check. I am proud to say that I have been able to do this for at least the last 12 years.

Financial Goal #15. Complete your emergency fund so you have at least 6 months’ expenses saved. Check. I don’t have an emergency fund, but I can survive financially without going into debt for 6 months.

So the total is 9 out of 15. I think I’ll never get more than 11 or 12.

@ Leo T. Ly – with how much you’ve accomplished and achieved financially (very amazing btw 👏), you can afford to fail on several of the items on this checklist haha!

Lol to your comment about debt! I feel the same why – I don’t think I will debt free any time soon either for good reasons. *knock on wood*

About that Canadian Tire MasterCard, I was actually going to open one a few years ago. But I never got to it because I wasn’t sure if I would buy anything with their money from their store. Maybe I should consider re-visiting this again. Thanks for mentioning about it here!

And great job on your financial goals! Many people including myself can definitely learn from you.

I would call it like a 13.5 out of 15. Kind of have a five year plan but it is a little bit of a floating target. Also still got the mortgage.

No other debt though and that feels amazing. I get the debt leverage argument but in my opinion the motivation that comes from the short term debt killing puts your savings in overdrive. For instance we paid off $34K in debt in 5 months. There is no way would have invested that much in the same time period.

Hi Grant! That’s amazing how you scored 13.5/15! Great job on your part 😉

Yeah, the borrowing to invest varies by person. Whether rates are cheap enough, the person’s risk tolerance, their overall situation, etc. A lot of factors to consider. Personally, I’m on the fence if rates are over 5.5% (so I’m a bit iffy now).

And thumbs up for paying $34k within 5 months! That requires some serious dedication and motivation! I’ll be interested in reading your post tonight.

Haha, I just finished reading J.Money’s post on this. I scored a 13.5 out of 15. I don’t automate all my bills, I manually check my credit card statements to check on how spend the past month before I make the full payment. I also don’t earn extra income but I’m working on monetizing my blog so hopefully I can starting earning some. BTW love the emojis you have on here especially the one where you have an empty wallet.

I have a mortgage (my only debt) and I don’t have a five-year financial plan. Otherwise though, rock solid. I wasn’t always that way but I changed my money mindset and really turned my financial world around.

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About Finsavvy Panda

Welcome to Finsavvy Panda!I love everything about saving, investing, earning, and building net worth. I’m all for flexibility and balance, so I’d love ❤ to help you do all of this without having to deprive yourself! Since Oct 2016, my boyfriend and I have been working towards freeing ourselves from corporate bullsh!t to become financially independent. If you want to hop on the happiness boat, come join us!